Skip to main content

William Shakspeare by Ivana Qartika (189207)


WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

William Shakespeare was just a familiar unfamiliar name to me before I entered Dr. Ikhlas' class. I mean, he was everywhere, on the news, in the books, and on every bookshelf in the library. No matter where you were, in a kampung in Kedah or amidst the hustle and bustle of Kuala Lumpur City. From Africa to New York. The world spoke of Shakespeare but within me, I never knew him deep down. William Shakespeare was just a name of a great playwright.

Even in cartoons like The Fairly Oddparents and in Disney movies, he was mentioned and compared to. The most prominent issue people would talk about him was the fact that he wrote Romeo and Juliet, one of the greatest love stories ever told. Some scholars even doubt the quality of his work making it a heated issue being discussed around the world. Was Shakespeare a fraud?

I believe a documentary was made on this issue on National Geographic. It was very elitist the fact that people doubt his works because of his education (Shakespeare never had formal education. He did not go to university.) This goes to show how Shakespeare went against the stereotype of someone who came from what was considered as the ''ghetto''. I came to know more about Shakespeare in Dr Ikhlas' class and I was very fortunate to learn more about this legendary writer. Shakespeare, in my opinion was a humanist. His plays were speaking mostly about people and the people who strayed away from God. It was no secret that Romeo and Juliet committed suicide, the act forbidden by their religion, proving their love towards one another led them subconsciously go against God's commands.

I was intrigued by the story of how their love came to be, to a point of death. It showed how strong their love was, that the death of one would bring full sorrow that the other is willing to take their own life. It is not in a way ''stupid'' as some people claim it to be. Those people,in my opinion, need to have a fuller understanding on what Shakespeare was trying to convey through Romeo and Juliet.

Shakespeare, as I mentioned, turned out to be a songwriter too. He wrote the song ''It Was A Lover and His Lass'. During our lecture in class, Dr. Ikhlas had shown us a video from Youtube of a female opera singer singing the song. I find it very wonderful that I found out something new about the legendary writer. I knew he wrote many plays and I have never realised the psychological complexity inhabited in his characters. Shakespeare was keen on inscribing social explorations through characters with different backgrounds. I.e The Jews. and also with people of colour in Othello.

Besides these wonderful facts, I also found out that Shakespeare's sonnets were being published much later than when he wrote them. He wrote beautiful sonnets and my current favourite has to be Sonnet 116. I love the lines

'' Admit impediments: love is not love,
Which alters when alteration finds''


I don't know if it was the time of the month, or something else, but his words were truly relatable to my feelings when I heard it that fine day in class. Sexuality wise, it was also questioned and argued whether or not Shakespeare was a homosexual. He wrote many sonnets for a young man. In my opinion, Shakespeare was and always will be one of the greatest writers of our time and it need not to be an issue if he was gay or not.

by Ivana Qartika Binti Shamsuddin 189207

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Utopia by Zhou Qing (ES02168)

A  brief analysis about " Utopia" As the 14th century of Italy, the Renaissance began in England with the rediscovery of Greek and Roman classical culture. The university restored the ancient Greek teaching and appeared the large-scale translation activities.Ancient Greek, Roman, modern Italian, French and other academic and literary classics were translated into early modern English by scholars and writers. Philosopher, educator, historian, statesman,religious people have written and expressed humanism in different ways, including Thomas more’s  " Utopia " were written in Latin.    In the book, More used the mouth of an overseas tourist,Raphael Hythloday to talk about his thinking about reality and his vision for the future. In his book, More firstly used "sheep to eat man" to expose the evil of "land enclosure movement"and put forward public ownership, discussed the people oriented, harmonious coexistence, freedom of marriage, respec...
Post a Comment
Read more

English Romantic Literature by Kashini Nair (193298)

What is English Romantic Literature? Romantic is characterised by the expression of love. Romantic also means a word which describes the feeling you have for someone you love. It could be anything in this world no boundaries for love i would say. But what is a romantic period ? Is it a time you were being only romantic? Thats what i thought at first when i was introduced to the headline ROMANTIC LITERATURE. Romantic era is an artistic, literary, musical, cultural and intellectual movement originating in Europe, toward the end of the 18th century. In most areas it was at its peak approximately 1800–1850. Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as glorification of all the past and nature, preferring the medieval rather than the classical. English Romantic Literature emphasis on the individual and democracy. Besides it also contemplates nature. Its a celebration of nature and its beauty.As what i understood, contemplate natures means t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Victorian Society by Muhammad Amzar (182839)

Victorian Society Introduction The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria’s reign from 20th June 1837 until her death on 22nd January 1901.It was a long period of peace, prosperity and refined sensibility. Major Events of the Victorian Era Some of the major events that took place during the Victorian era and influenced the literature of that time include: 1. A huge growth in population. 2. The Victorian era slightly overlaps with British Industrial Revolution. It witnessed big changes to the way people lived, worked and travelled. 3. In addition to the major developments in technology, there were emerging scientific beliefs like Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. 4. And finally, there were poor conditions for working class. The Industrial Revolution led to the distance between the halves and halvenots. Hence, the writers felt obligated to speak out against the societal injustice. Defining Victorian Literature in any satisfactory and...
1 comment
Read more